NEW YORK: Martina Hingis and Leander Paes once again proved to be a potent partnership as the Swiss-Indo duo captured their third mixed doubles title of the year with victory at the US Open on Friday.

The Australian Open and Wimbledon champions came back from 4-1 down in the championship tie-break to storm to victory with a 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 win over Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sam Querrey.

Hingis and Paes became the first duo to capture three major mixed titles in the same year since Margaret Court and Marty Riessen achieved the feat in 1969.

The triumph earned 42-year-old Paes a ninth mixed doubles trophy and 17th Grand Slam title while Hingis took her overall Grand Slam tally to 19 (five singles, 10 women’s doubles and four mixed).

“I just love to play tennis and I am fortunate to have Leander as my partner,” Hingis, 34, told reporters.

Paes added: “Martina is a legend on and off the court. She’s my best friend. She’s just fantastic.”

Hingis could add to her haul over the weekend when she teams up with another Indian, Sania Mirza, in the women’s doubles final against Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2015

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